Concept Car Catches on Fire at GM Design Studio, But Report of Massive Blaze Is Wrong, GM Says

A fire broke out at General Motors’ Advanced Design Studio in Pasadena, California, on Wednesday at 5:45 p.m. local time, per multiple reports, in what was initially described by first responders as one of the largest structure fires the city had seen in years. On Thursday, GM told The Drive that all staff and emergency personnel are safe, and the fire was contained to one concept vehicle.

The blaze was reportedly extinguished shortly before 7:30 p.m. The Pasadena studio opened in 2024 and is located near Sierra Madre Villa Avenue and Rosemead Boulevard. It’s one of GM’s global design hubs and is responsible for the California Corvette concept, one of the three futuristic Corvette show cars GM introduced earlier this year. Fortunately, nobody was harmed in the fire. GM communications director Sean Poppitt told The Drive:

“We’re grateful that all employees and first responders are safe and accounted for,” Poppitt said. “The isolated fire was contained to a single design concept vehicle and did not spread to any other vehicles, design concepts, or the building itself. We thank the responding fire departments for their swift action in extinguishing the fire.”

An initial report from the Los Angeles Times categorized the incident as a four-alarm fire that involved more than 100 firefighters at the 149,000 square-foot campus. “This is one of the largest structure fires we’ve had in Pasadena in many, many years,” department spokesperson Lisa Derderian reportedly told the publication. It was claimed that lithium-ion batteries were burning, filling the facility with heavy smoke and making the blaze challenging to put out, though no flames were visible from the building’s exterior, per CBS News.

GM says it is cooperating fully with authorities in their investigation and assessing next steps. The facility is closed for the time being, but the company hopes to welcome staff back as soon as possible.

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